Attaching device.



C. A. WOOD.

ATTACHING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.I4, I915.

Patented Jan. 14, 1919.

('3 mum wow CLYDE A. WOOD, OF ASPINWALL, PENNSYLVANIA.

ATTACHING- DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 14:, 1919.

Application filed December 14, 1915. Serial No. 66,715.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLYDE A. Wooo, a citizen of the United States, residing at Aspinwall, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Attaching Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to attaching devices, adapted for attaching two parts or objects together.

One useful application of the invention consists in attaching slips, cards, tags, and similar articles, to packages, wrappers, bales, bundles, bags, and other articles, whereby they may 'be marked for any purpose desired.

One object of the invention is to provide a device of this character whereby a tag or other object may be readily and quickly attached to a package or object.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this haracter having means for automatically connecting the ends of the device whereby the tag or other object is securely fastened to the package or object.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device having members adapted to be connected together, and spring means which lock said ends when connected.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tag having an attaching device, one end of which is adapted to engage the eye of a tag whereby the latter may be readily and quickly attached to a package or object, and securely fastened thereto.

Another object of the invention is to provide an attaching device from a section of resilient wire, the ends of which are adapted to be connected together to form a loop by means of which parts or objects may be connected 0r fastened together.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an attaching device embodying my invention, a

.of that portion of the tag provided with an eyelet.v

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a box showing one of my attaching devices applied thereto.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a package showing another way of applying the device.

Figs. 7, 9 and 10 are perspective views illustrating other forms of the invention.

Fig. 8 is a View of the device shown in Fig. 7, with the bars in locked-together relationship.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of another form of the invention, the bars of which are bent to form a ring which is adapted to surround an object, such as the neck of a bottle.

In the drawings, 1 indicates as an entirety the attaching device. It is preferably formed from a single piece of resilient spring wire 1 which is bent to form two bars or members, 2, 3. The free ends of the bars 2, 3, are adapted to be connected together by the parts and members about to be described, whereby is formed a loop which encircles a portion of an object, and connects thereto a slip, card, Or shipping tag, as indicated at A.

The bars 2, 3, are, by preference, normally arranged when disconnected to diverge slightly from each other, so that when their free ends are connected, they tend to separate, due to the resiliency of the wire.

4: indicates a pin mounted at the free end of one of the bars, such as the bar 2. The pin is formed by bending a portion or section of the bar 2 inwardly at 2, so that it will be disposed substantially at right angles to the bar. 5 indicates an arm carried by the outer end of the pin 4: and arranged to form an acute angle therewith. The arm 5 may be inclined in any direction, as for example, in the direction shown in Fig. 10, but preferably the arm 5 is disposed in the plane of the bars 2, 3, and extends toward the remote end of the adjacent bar, as shown in Figs. 1 to 8, inclusive. In this latter form of the invention, the free end of the arm 5 cannot readily inflict injury to the person handling the package or object to which the attaching device is secured. To avoid any possibility of accident, the free end of the arm 5 may be doubled over, as shown at 5.

6 indicates an eye or ring connected to, or carried by, the bar 3. The eye 6 is disposed in a plane extending at substantially right angles to the pin 4:, so that said pin and the.

arm 5 carried thereby may be inserted through the eye. The eye or ring 6 may be variously formed; for instance, in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it may consist of the opening in the tag A, which may be connected to the bar 3 in any suitable manner; in Fig. 7 the eye is shown aS being formed by bending the free end of the wire into one or more coils. \Vhere only one coil is provided, I prefer to rivet over said coil a suitable eyelet, as shown in Fig. 9. In Fig. 10, I have shown still another form of eye in which the end of the bar 3 is bent into a loop and the free end of the wire twisted over and around the bar 3.

The tag A may be connected to the attaching device by passing the pin 4, arm 5 and bar 2 through the opening in the tag, as shown'in Figs. 7 and 8.

When it is desired to rigidly connect the attaching device and shipping tag together, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, the preferred form of construction is to bend the outer end of the bar 3 into ring shape, as shown at 7 Fig. 4, and this ring is arranged concentric to the opening in the tag A. 8 indicates an eyelet which is arranged in the tag opening; the straight, or uncrimped, end of the eyelet is passed through the opening in the tag A and the ring 7, and is then pressed, crimped or riveted over the ring 7 and the edge of the opening in the tag A, thus securing the attaching device to the adjacent face of the tag. Suitable washers, 9, may be interposed upon sides of the tag A to strengthen the walls of the opening. In this form of construction it will be noted that the opening in the tag A serves as the eye 6 for the pin 4 and arm 5; and the ring 7 and eyelet 8 serve as suitable means for con necting the bar 3 to the tag A.

The arm 5 is preferably so disposed that its free end is spaced from the pin 4 a distance slightly greater than the diameter of the eye 6, so that when the bars 2, 3, are connected together by the insertion of the pin 4 through the eye 6, the arm 5 flexes or bends inwardly until its free end passes the eye 6, whereupon, due to the resiliency of the wire, it springs outwardly, assuming its normal position, and locks the bars 2, 3 together, as shown in Fig. 3.

As already set forth, the bars 2, 3, are normally separated, as shown in Figs. 2, 7, 3 and 10, but may be connected, as shown in Figs. 3 and 8, by a pressing action, the eye 6 and the pin 4 and arm 5 being correlated to permit automatic engagement when the bars 2, 3, are pressed or flexed toward each other.

The pin 4 is preferably arranged to extend axially through the eye 6. When so arranged, it flexes or bends slightly at the corner or bend 2 as it and the arm 5 move through the eye 6, and after the free end of the arm 5 has passed the eye 6, the pin 4 resumes its normal position, due to the resiliency of the wire.

In Fig. 5 one of the bars 2, 3, is shown as inserted under and around the cord on a package to secure the tag A thereto, but if desired the bar 2 may be inserted through the wrapper on the package, as shown in Fig. 6, the pointed end 5 permitting such insertion. It is especially easy and simple to make such insertion through the wrapper in case such wrapper is of open weave fabric, such as burlap or similar material. It will therefore be seen that my device may be attached easily and quickly to packages of various kinds, whether secured with or without cord or equivalent means.

When it is desired to attach a card, tag, slip or like article directly to the object to be marked, the inner ends of the bars 2, 3, may be enlarged as shown by dotted lines at 3, Fig. 3, so as to fit around the object. The enlargement 3 may be of any desired size and shape.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have provided a device of simple construction, formed from a single piece of wire, the ends of which are capable of being connected and automatically locked together. The locking devices on the free ends of the bars 2, 3, are shaped, correlated and arranged to prevent the ready separation of the bars, especially under any ordinary conditions of use to which the device may be subjected; the device, therefore, operates to securely and effectively connect a tag, card or slip to an object.

It is the present custom, so far as I am aware, to attach tags and equivalent devices to packages or objects by means of cord or flexible wire; the former has to be tied to, and the latter twisted through or about, the package or object. Both of these methods require considerable time and labor. Since my device is readily attached to a package or object by inserting one bar under the cord on the package or object to be marked, or inserting same through the wrapping of the package or object, and then pressing the bars 2, 3 together, it will be seen that its use will save both time and labor.

While I prefer to bend the section of wire 1 so that the bars 2, 3, will diverge relatively to each other when unlocked and in normal position, the section of wire may be arranged so that the bars 2, 3, will normally be substantially parallel to each other. In either form of construction, the pin 4, arm 5, and eye 6 will cooperate in the same manner to permit the automatic locking of the bars 2. 3, to prevent their separation under normal conditions of use, as has already been described.

To those skilled in the art of making articles of the class described, many alterations in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of my invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. My disclosure and description herein are purely illustrative, and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

What I claim is:

1. A device of the character described formed from a single piece of resilient wire bent to form two relatively movable bars, the outer ends of which are normally separated from each other, the outer end of one of said bars being coiled or looped to form an eye, and the outer end of the other bar having a section extending at substantially right angles thereto to form a pin and a lock section extending from the free end of the pin at an acute angle thereto, the outer end of said lock section being free to permit it to yield or move toward the pin section and disposed from said pin section a distance slightly greater than the diameter of said eye, whereby when one of the bars is moved toward the other bar, said lock section will yield, pass through the eye and engage the opposite side thereof to prevent separation of said bars.

2. A device of the character described formed from a single piece of resilient wire bent to form two relatively movable bars, the outer ends of which are normally separated from each other, the outer end of one of said bars being coiled or looped to form an eye, and the outer end of the other bar having a section extending at substantially right angles thereto to form a pin and a lock section extending from the upper end of the pin at an acute angle thereto toward the connected ends of said bars, the outer end of said lock section being free to permit 4 Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G." 

